Ryan Pedon

Ryan Pedon led the Redbirds to their winningest season in eight years, and the team won the College Basketball Invitational title last season.

The investigation by the Illinois State University Ethics Office was launched following a heated Dec. 9 game at Horton in which Norfolk State coach Robert Jones alleged spectators called one of his players the N-word. [This is according to a since-deleted post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter].

New Illinois State men's basketball coach Ryan Pedon says he's not shying away from the school's quarter-century drought since the program's last NCAA Tournament berth It's also been 25 seasons since ISU won the Missouri Valley Conference tournament.